The Catalina Foothills High School freshman was also credited in Apple's security update announcement, along with Daven Morris of Texas.

"We want to thank Apple for giving credit to Grant in the security update, meeting with us ... and awarding Grant for his discovery," his mother, Michele Thompson, said in a text message. "We intend to use any money received towards future college expenses."

Fix the glitch on your device

Go to Settings > General > Software Update. Choose Download and Install. The device must have at least 50 percent battery or be plugged in.

"We sincerely apologize to our customers who were affected and all who were concerned about this security issue," Apple said in a statement.

How Grant found the glitch

Tucson teenager Grant Thompson and friends discovered a major iPhone security glitch while playing the video game Fortnite. His mother, Michele Thompson, tried to alert Apple to the problem.(Photo11: Courtesy of Michele Thompson)

Grant Thompson was preparing to play the popular video game Fortnite with friends in January when he noticed the glitch.

While trying to start a group chat before the game, Thompson discovered his iPhone transmitted audio to and from his friend's phone while the call was ringing, even when his friend failed to accept the FaceTime call.

For more than a week, his mother tried to contact Apple about the safety concern without success.

She called Apple customer support, tagged Apple in Facebook posts, sent tweets, registered as a developer to submit a warning through Apple's bug reporting website, and even faxed a letter on her law firm's letterhead to Apple's general counsel.

After industry news site 9to5Mac reported the glitch, Apple announced it had temporarily disabled the group-chat function in FaceTime and would deploy a software update to fix the vulnerability.

The Thompsons said they still plan to use Apple products, but will be more wary in the future.

"It's definitely taught me how scary technology can be," Grant Thompson said. "Even though Apple is generally a safe company that tries to keep your privacy secure, sometimes glitches like this fall through the cracks and can be abused by many people."